Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Scouring the comics news sites so you don't have to.

There have been a few news items in the past week or two that caught my eye and I thought I'd share those. You may have seen them, too, but if not, take a look. Some of these are worthwhile projects that could always bear some additional exposure.

Gødland: Comic Book Resources is featuring six preview pages from this upcoming Image Comics title by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli. The series is inspired by the cosmic epics popularized by Jack Kirby and others during the 70s. Artist Tom Scioli's art is heavily influenced by Kirby so that adds to the feel of the book. In the preview, we learn a few points:

Adam Archer, the book's hero, lives in the Infinity Tower in the heart of Manhattan. It reminds one of the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building.

Adams' three sisters apparently live there as well. This seems to cramp their style.

Adam is "on call" to deal with crises as they arise.

A meteor giving off "significant organic readings" has hit China.

Personally, I'm hoping it's a gimongous monster.

Winsor McCay: Early Works: In a press release, Checker Book Publishing Group has announced the seventh and eighth volumes of their series collecting the early work of seminal cartoonist/animator Winsor McCay. When I first heard two or three years ago that Checker were going to publish this series, I figured it would be three or maybe four volumes, not just because I wasn't sure there was a market for it, but also because I didn't know that McCay had produced this much material. Eight volumes of stuff that most people don't even know exists let alone have actually seen! I think it's great that Checker is preserving this stuff for new generations. I just wish the pages were bigger. McCay liked the detail and some of it is lost on a typical TPB page size.Girl Genius: I remember reading Phil Foglio's work in Dragon Magazine back in the day. I still have the copy of Illegal Aliens that I bought when it was first published in 1989 as well as the Angel and the Ape and Stanley and His Monster miniseries he did for DC in the early 90s. I like Foglio's work. It's funny and imaginative. Girl Genius is his best so far. He has provided an interview at Newsarama and Girl Genius may now be read online at www.girlgeniusonline.com.

Dennis the Menace: The Pulse's Jen Contino interviews Fantagraphics publisher, Gary Groth, on the upcoming Dennis the Menace collections and what made Hank Ketchum's definitive work so remarkable. Of the series, Groth says, "One of our goals with the Complete Dennis is to resurrect Dennis from the slag heap of cross-media licensing and merchandising that has eclipsed the comic itself, and to demonstrate in the most vivid way we can how great Ketcham's cartooning was."

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: Yet another interview by Jen Contino, this time with Jim Ottaviani of GT Labs on a tale of paleontology. The book depicts the "Bone Wars" -- a scientific feud between early dinosaur men O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. Ottaviani says that the story is based on true events although he's taken some literary license. I was drawn to the book mainly due to the Mark Schultz cover, but the interior work is courtesy Big Time Attic Studios: Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, and Shad Petosky. I pre-ordered this one and am looking forward to it.

Mike Mignola: Broken Frontier's Fletch Adams provides an encapsulization of Mignola's career thus far. With regards to his pre-Hellboy work, Rocket Raccoon still holds a special place in my heart and Cosmic Odyssey is a great turn at the cosmic epic.

Pie: In an unfortunate turn of events, those of us attending Comicon International: San Diego will not receive free Home Run Pies from the Image Comics crew. Such giveaways are subject to charges by the Convention Center, which would cost Image four times the amount of the pies' retail value. So, if you want Home Run Pies, bring your own. (For the record, CCI starts in 15 days!)